While driving, a driver of a vehicle is likely to be subjected to a large amount of information. For each year, the amount of information seems to increase, as information of different sorts becomes more easily accessible and may be more easily presented. The information referred to may for instance relate to vehicle information presented on a display of e.g., an instrument panel or center stack of the vehicle, or presented via loud speakers thereof. Furthermore, the increased amount of information may be the result of an increased amount of functionality being implemented into in-vehicle systems, such as infotainment systems.
Moreover, the use of mobile user devices such as smart phones has increased rapidly in the last few years. Not surprisingly, extending applications from the mobile user device to the vehicle has become a popular feature offered by various service providers and vehicle manufacturers. A mobile user device connected to a vehicle, for instance via a USB connection and/or a wireless connection, is commonly referred to as a nomadic device, and includes all types of information and communication as well as entertainment devices that can be brought into the vehicle by the driver to be used while driving. Current examples of nomadic devices include e.g., mobile phones, portable computers, Pocket PCs, PDAs, mobile navigation devices, iPods, and multi-functional smart phones. Bringing the mobile user device into the vehicle commonly results in that an even greater amount of information may be available to the vehicle driver.
The excessive amount of available information may imply a risk of the vehicle driver being distracted, i.e., that attention is taken from driving, a situation which needs to be addressed.
EP 1 519 851, for instance, relates to a method for operating information systems for providing information to a driver of a motor vehicle, via which method increased driving safety may be obtained. It is suggested that the information to be output to the driver is selected as a function of vehicle operating data. However, although the described approach provides a solution according to which the driver is not unnecessarily distracted from the main task of driving the vehicle, EP 1 519 851 merely suggests that the driver is provided with selected information adapted to a particular driving situation.